Record card feed mechanism



Nov. 15, 1966 P. H. HARTEL 3,285,602

RECORD CARD FEED MECHANISM Filed Feb. 15, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 21 -ic M Nov. 15, 1966 H. HARTEL 3,285,602

RECORD CARD FEED MECHANISM Filed Feb. 15, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 il||||||||| lllllulllllllllllll I 3a -zs a a 43 1 2o 47 50 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 A! Y Q m wmQM/mzw Nov. 15, 1966 P. H. HARTEL RECORD CARD FEED MECHANISM Filed Feb. 15, 1965 i i i Wm k\\\\ Nov. 15, 1966 P. H. HARTEL RECORD CARD FEED MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 15, 1965 United States Patent 3,285,602 RECORD CARD FEED MECHANISM Pieter Hendrik Hartel, Amsterdam 00st, Netherlands, assignor to Bull Nederland (Administratie-en Statistiekmachine, MIJ., N.V.), Amsterdam, Netherlands Filed Feb. 15, 1965, Ser. No. 432,650 Claims priority, application France, Feb. 26, 1964, 965,154, Patent 1,394,934 7 Claims. (Cl. 271-32) The present invention rel-ates to feed mechanism for feeding record cards or sheets intended to be used in accounting machines, such as sorting machines, collating machines, tabulators, etc. More precisely, the invention concerns a mechanism for extracting cards one-by-one from the bottom of a stack of cards situated in a card magazine, at a higher. speed than hitherto. Generally, when the cards are extracted one-by-one by a knife having a reciprocating movement, each of them passes through a throat before being brought between a pair of continuously rotating driving rollers.

Various difficulties arise when it is necessary to extract the cards in this way at a rate higher than 1000 cards per minute. These difficulties are due to the relatively small thickness of the cards and the possible deformation-s thereof, because, as a result of their passage through certain machines, their leading edges may be more or less damaged and they may tend to remain curved instead of being ideally flat.

In order to obviate these disadvantages, it has already been proposed to employ attracting means, for example a vacuum or a negative pressure, in order to apply the edge of a card to be extracted against the extracting member. In addition, suction orifices have also been provided to apply the leading edge of the card to be extracted against the base of the magazine just before it enters the separating throat. In the case where a movable base plate is employed, it must be connected by one or more flexible pipes to the negative-pressure or vacuum source. In another case where the flexible pipe has been omitted and the negative-pressure knife has been rocked about the axis of the tube connected to .the negative-pressure source, disadvantages reside in the heaviness and complexity of the construction and in the fact that the displacement of the knife along an arc of a circle imparts a vertical movement to the stack of cards.

A first object of the invention is to provide a device of simple and light construction for the extraction of cards from a magazine, by means of which both completely flat and curved record cards can be extracted at a very high rate.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a device which is capable of effecting a registration at least of the lowest card of the stack in relation to the edge of the picking member in the return movement of the latter.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cardextracting device in which the movement of the picking member does not produce any undesirable vertical move ment of the stack of cards.

In accordance with the invention, therefore, there are provided, in a mechanism for feeding towards driving rollers record cards which are situated in a stack in a magazine, in which a card picking member is actuated with a reciprocating movement and co-operates with means tor applying a negative air pressure, a card picking member in the form of a thin carriage plate supporting the picker knife, actuating means for imparting a rectilinear reciprocating movement to the carriage plate, a suction-distributing plate forming the base of the magazine below the carriage plate and having in its upper face cavities and slots in which a negative pressure or partial punc'hed card sorting machine.

3,285,602 Patented Nov. 15, 1966 vacuum exists, the carriage plate being formed with holes opposite to the said slots or cavities in order to apply the leading .and trailing edges of a card to be extracted against the carriage plate.

It is here a question of advancing the cards in a direction perpendicular to their greater length. In the device according to the invention, the knife carriage plate has a width which is smaller than the length of a card. A slot in the distribution plate on either side of the carriage plate transmits the negative pressure in order to retain the lowermost card and to inhibit its dispiacement in the return movement of the carriage plate. However, the alignment of the lowermost card in relation to the edge of the knife is improved during the return of the carriage plate by the fact that 'holes are provided which extend through the carriage plate and the knife opposite corresponding slots in the negative pressure distributing plate.

Further features and advantages of the invention will be more clearly apparent from the following description, which is given by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in section through the axis of the feed device according to the invent-ion;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of this device;

FIGURE 3 is a view in transverse section along the line C-C of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of the carriage plate along the line DD of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a view in perspective of the rear part of the magazine, and

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view of 1a negative-pressure channel (along the line -EE of FIGURE 3).

It will be assumed that the invention is applied to a The card feed section (FIGURES 1 and 2) comprises two cheeks 10 forming part of, or connected to, the frame of the machine.

The card supply magazine comprises at its lower end a base plate -11a secured between the two cheeks 10, the said base plate being completed by a horizontal plate 11b screwed to the plate 11a. The forward face of the magazine consists of the vertical wall 12, to the centre of which the throat blade 13 is secured. The side walls of the magazine are formed by the two uprights 14 secured to the cheeks 10. The rear part of the magazine is formed by the detachable member 15 (see also FIGURE 5), comprising two uprights 16, of which the forward face is inclined in relation to the vertical, a rear face edge 17, two cross members 18 and a securing plate 19. The frame surrounding the stack of cards is completed, in the bottom of the magazine, by four small blocks 20.

It will be seen from FIGURE 2 that these blocks are set back in relation to the uprights 14. On the other hand, the rear face of the wall 12 is also set back in relation to the throat blade 13. When a stack of cards is placed in the magazine, they are guided on the one hand between the throat blade 13 and the edge 17, and on the other hand between the uprights 14.

It will be seen from FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 that the base plate 11a and the horizontal plate 11b form a negative pressure or suction chamber. Two pipes 21 are secured in the base plate 11a. They are connected to a negative-pressure or partial vacuum source, which may be a vacuum pump or a suction fan. Since these elements may be of any appropriate type and do not form part of the invention, they are not illustrated. Since the feed system has an axis of symmetry, the lower part in FIG- URE 2 corresponds to a half-plan view with a section along the line B-B of FIGURE 1, some of the parts being assumed to have been removed. The upper part of this figure corresponds to a half-plan view with a section along the line AA of FIGURE 1. The lower part of FIGURE 2 shows in chain lines the forms of a cavity 22 and of two cavities 23 provided in the upper face of the base plate 111a and communicating with the pipes 21.

The upper driving roller 24 and the lower driving roller 25 are shown as forming part of the card feeding means in the machine. Each roller comprises two roller elements spaced apart so as to engage the ends of a card as soon as the leading edge thereof has left the magazine to a suflicient extent. It is well known that such rollers are driven .at a constant speed of rotation, for example by means of gear trains actuated by a general driving motor. Since all these elements are conventional, they have not :been illustrated. It will be seen in FIGURE 3 that the wall 12 comprises two recesses to accommodate the roller elements of the upper roller 24. According to FIGURE 2, the horizontal plate 11b also comp-rises two recesses to accommodate the roller elements of the lower roller 25.

The member for extracting the cards one-by-one from the magazine is composed of the carriage plate 26 on which the knife 27 is secured. The carriage plate, which may consist of a metal section not exceeding 0.4 mm. in thickness, is secured to the block 28 by two screws 29, the metal section being embossed to receive the screw heads.

A hole drilled in the block 28 serves to accommodate two rings 30 of self-lubricating material. These rings effect the vertical guiding of the block 28 on the cylindrical axis 31, the ends of which are engaged in the front and rear edges of the base plate 11a. On the other hand, the upper part of the block 28, which is shown in its rearrnost position, i.e. to the right, in FIGURE 1, is guided in a slot 36 (see FIGURE 4) in the base plate 11a and in the horizontal plate 11b. The block can move 30 mm. towards the left therein. The block 28 comprises an extension by means of which it is coupled to the rear end of the connecting rod 32 in a recess formed in the pin of the block. The pin 33 is held fast by the screw 34 in the connecting rod end and adapted to turn in the two rings 35 of self-lubricating material, which are fitted in the lugs of the block. The head of the connecting rod 32 is assumed to be coupled to any appropriate driving member, i.e. an eccentric shaft or a crankshaft, which may be driven in known manner by the general driving system of the machine mentioned in the foregoing. It is to be noted that the above driving mechanism is not the only one that can be employed, but that it is very advantageous by reason of the fact that the speed of the knife is zero or almost zero at the instant when it engages the trailing edge of a card to be extracted.

The largest transverse dimension of the carriage plate 26 is much smaller than the length of a card, since it must become engaged between the elements of the driving rollers 24 and 25 during its forward movement. The knife 27 has a smaller thickness than a card, i.e. it may scarcely exceed 0.15 mm. By reason of this thinness, it is therefore simply adhesively secured to the carriage plate. It will be seen from the upper part of FIGURE 2 that the greatest length of the knife is less than the maximum width of the carriage plate 26, the latter having its two rear corners cut-off. The edge 17 is sufliciently cut away in height to allow free passage of the carriage plate and of the knife.

It may be seen from FIGURE 1 that the card separating throat is defined by the edge of the throat blade 13 and the upper face of the carriage plate 26. The latter is sufficiently long to enable its leading edge always to remain engaged below the throat blade, even in its rearmost position. Since the carriage plate rubs against the horizontal plate 11b, it is desirable to employ for the latter a material which has good resistance to frictional wear, such as Celoron, or a similar material. On the other hand, with a view to reducing the forces of inertia,

it is advantageous for the block 28 and the connecting rod 32 to be made of a light metal such as an aluminum alloy.

Suction orifices intended forapplying the card to be extracted against the carriage plate act through the latter. FIGURE 2 shows that in the region of the leading edge of the cards there are provided in the carriage plate 26 fifteen rows of holes 37 in positions corresponding to fifteen slots 38 in the distributing plate 1112. Five rows of four holes 39 are provided in the carriage plate, so that these holes are positioned above the corresponding slots in the plate 11b when the carriage plate is shifted in the forward direction. In the region of the trailing edge of the card ten rows of three holes 40 are provided in positions corresponding to the slots 41 in the distributing plate 11b. The holes 37, 39 and 40 are effective during the picking movement of the knife to ensure that the card to be picked from the stack of cards is effectively applied against the carriage plate, even if they tend to be curved concavely or convexly in relation to the carriage plate.

In addition, ten rows of three holes 42 are provided which run through the knife 27 and the carriage plate 26. When the latter is in its most advanced position, these holes are situated above the corresponding slots 41, so that the negative pressure applies the trailing edge of the lower card of the stack against the knife. During the return movement of the latter, this card is therefore driven backwards. Its correct positioning is ensured by virtue of the fact that its trailing edge abuts the ends of the rear edge 17.

In addition, two slots 43 are provided in the distributing plate 11b, the said slots extending almost over the entire width of a card, outside the carriage plate 26 and on either side thereof. In addition to their effect on the flattening of the cards, these slots have a certain netaining action on the card which is situated immediately above the card being picked and which is therefore gradually included in the field of action of the said slots. In addition, during the return movement of the knife carriage plate, these same slots tend further to retain in position the lowermost card and thus to moderate the rearward movement of this card, which has previously been considered.

It is desirable for the spacings between the suction holes and slots to be such that the holes do not coincide with the columns of perforations in a record card in order that the force of application produced by the negative pressure may be reduced as little as possible by any perforations in the neighbourhood of the said holes.

Thus, the card feeding mechanism provided with the above-indicated means operate-s correctly and makes it possible to extract record cards at a rate of more than 2000 cards per minute. It has been endeavoured to improve further the operating reliability by adding further suction orifices in the region of the lower portion of the magazine.

Two oblong slots 44 (FIGURE 3) are first concerned, which are situated a few millimetres above the carriage plate, on either side of the throat blade 13. Two negative pressure channels 45 are let into the front wall 12. They are visible in the sectional views of FIGURE 2 (upper part) and FIGURE 6. An internal recess in one negative pressure channel communicates 'with the outside through the slot 44 and at the top with a hole 46 extending horizontally in the upper part of the partition 12. This hole has to be connected to the negative pressure source in order that the slots 44 may produce a suction in the bottom of the stack of cards.

,On the other hand, a slot 47 is formed in the lower part of each of the uprights 14 (FIGURES 1, 2, and 3). 'It may be seen from FIGURE 3 that each of these slots is arranged to communicate with a cavity 23 in the base plate 11a through a corresponding aperture in the distributing plate 11b.

Finally, a groove in the rear edge 17 constitutes another suction slot 48 (see FIGURES 1 and 2, upper part). A hole opens vertically into this slot and the pipe 49 fitted therein enables it to be connected to the negative air pressure source.

The action of the slots 44, 47 and 48 has the effect of strengthening the action of the suction slots and holes provided in the distributing plate 11b and in the carriage plate 26. The improvement resulting therefrom is particularly useful when a stack of cards is about to be exhausted and the last cards to be picked are curved to such an extent that they could not be correctly extracted from the magazine.

It is obvious that modifications could be made in the constructional details of the card feeding mechanism described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Notably, the thickness of the carriage plate 26 might be increased in order to impart greater rigidity thereto. This would be possible provided that its Weight were not substantially increased, so that its inertia is kept at a low level. In this case, it might be necessary to let the carriage plate into the distributing plate 11b in order that their upper faces may be substantially at the same level.

What is claimed is:

1. A feed mechanism for feeding rectangular record cards in a direction transverse to their length into the feed throat of a machine comprising:

a card hopper for containing cards in stacked relation,

a stationary suction chamber located at the bottom of said hopper, coupled to a source of partial vacuum and having an upper plate formed with a plurality of apertures in the form of slots parallel tothe card feed direction, and

a reciprocating card feed carriage adapted to be reciprocated toward and away from the feed throat of the machine, this carriage comprising a carriage plate thinner than said upper plate and longer than the card width and which is arranged to be displaced rectilinearly below the bottom of the card stack and upon the upper plate of said suction chamber, said carriage plate having several series of holes through it, each series of holes being located in alignment with a slot of the upper plate of said suction chamber in order to apply suction to the lower face of the lowermost cardof the stack, said carriage plate also bearing card picker means arranged to be at the rear side of the trailing edge of a card when said carriage is in its rearmost position.

2. A feed mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein said picker means is composed of a foil which is at most as thick as a card and is stuck over said carriage plate, several series of holes being provided through said foil and said carriage plate and these holes being brought in register with corresponding slots of the upper plate of said suction chamber when said card carriage is in a position advanced toward said feed throat.

3. A feed mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the width of said carriage plate transverse to the card feed direction is at least greater than half the length of a card, and wherein the upper plate of said suction chamber is fitted with two longitudinal parallel slots the spacing of which is greater than the said width of the carriage plate, so as to apply suction to the lowermost card of the stack.

4. A feed mechanism for feeding rectangular record cards in a direction transverse to the length thereof into the feed throat of a machine comprising:

a card hopper for containing a stack of cards to be fed,

a stationary suction chamber located under said card hopper coupled to a source of partial vacuum and including a plane upper plate provided with several elongated slots parallel to the card feed direction,

a card feed carriage comprising an axial block and a carriage plate thinner than said upper plate and longer than the card width and which is fastened to said block and a card picker knife, this carriage plate being located below said card stack and upon the upper plate of said suction chamber and including several series of holes through itself in alignment with the slots in said upper plate of the suction chamber so that the lower face of the lowermost card of the stack is applied by suction on the said carriage plate,

guiding means co-acting with said carirage block permitting the latter to be reciprocated toward and away from the feed throat of the machine, and

an actuating rod connected at one end of the drive system of the machine and at the other end to said carriage block to impart a reciprocating movement to said card carriage.

5. A feed mechanism as claimed in claim 4, wherein said picker knife is a foil which is at most as thick as a card and is stuck on said carriage plate, several series of holes being provided through said picker knife and said carriage plate and these holes being brought in register with corresponding slots of the upper plate of said suction chamber when said card carriage is in a position adv-anc'ed toward said fed throat.

6. A feed mechanism as claimed in claim 4, wherein the width of said carriage plate transverse to the card feed direction is at least greater than half the length of a card, and wherein the upper plate of said suction chamher is provided with two longitudinal parallel slots the spacing of which is greater than the width of said carriage plate, so as to apply suction to the lowermost card of the stack independently of the position of said card carriage.

7. A feed mechanism as claimed in claim 4, wherein a first end of said rod receives from said system a circular movement at uniform angular speed whereas the axis of the second end coupled to said carriage block has a rectilinear movement in a direction fixed by said guiding means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,812,939 11/1957 Harred 27l-44 3,096,087 7/ 1963 Markley 271-32 3,202,420 8/1965 Dovey 27 l32 EVON C. BLUNK, Primary Examiner.

A. C. HODGSON, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A FEED MECHANISM FOR FEEDING RECTANGULAR RECORD CARDS IN A DIRECTION TRANSVERSE TO THEIR LENGHT INTO THE FEED THROAT OF A MACHINE COMPRISING: A CARD HOPPER FOR CONTAINING CARDS IN STACKED RELATION, A STATIONARY SUCTION CHAMBER LOCATED AT THE BOTTOM OF SAID HOPPER, COUPLED TO A SOURCE OF PARTIAL VACUUM AND HAVING AN UPPER PLATE FORMED WITH A PLURALITY OF APERTURES IN THE FORM OF SLOTS PARALLEL TO THE CARD FEED DIRECTION, AND A RECIROACTING CARD FEED CARRIAGE ADAPTED TO BE RECIPROCATED TOWARD AND AWAY FROM THE FEED THROAT OF THE MACHINE, THIS CARRIAGE COMPRISING A CARRIAGE PLATE THINNER THAN SAID UPPER PLATE AND LONGER THAN THE CARD WIDTH AND WHICH IS ARRANGED TO BE DISPLACED RECTILINEARLY BELOW THE BOTTOM OF THE CARD STACK AND UPON THE UPPER PLATE OF SAID SUCTION CHAMBER, SAID CARRIAGE PLATE HAVING SEVERAL SERIES OF HOLES THROUGH IT, EACH SERIES OF HOLES BEING LOCATED IN ALIGNMENT WITH A SLOT OF THE UPPER PLATE OF SAID SUCTION CHAMBER IN ORDER TO APPLY SUCTION TO THE LOWER FACE OF THE LOWERMOST CARD OF THE STACK, SAID CARRIAGE PLATE ALSO BEARING CARD PICKER MEANS ARRANGED TO BE AT THE REAR SIDE OF THE TRAILING EDGE OF A CARD WHEN SAID CARRIAGE IS IN ITS REARMOST POSITION. 